Pat: Another Gringa Prostitute in Tijuana
I met Pat early in my “career” of shooting Zona Norte. She knew my amigo who had been coming to Zona for about 30 years or so and he said he met her when she was a dancer at Adelita. He told me she was a stunner on the stage with a great body and great moves. Yes, apparently they had a few American women who worked there from time to time back in the day.
But as often happens, age and lifestyle catches up to a person.
This is the first photo I shot of Pat.
My amigo invited her to sit with us for a taco and she agreed. She spoke about her cats as we ate. He gave her a few dollars and we went on about our day.
I saw her a few weeks later as I was standing on the corner of Primera and Constitucion. She was with a guy. Because people often assume I’m a reporter or something due to my camera gear, I don’t ever approach or greet any of the girls when I see they have someone who might be a client nearby so I don’t scare off business. But Pat hollered out to me as she crossed the street and began waving wildly… so I walked over towards her and the guy. She introduced me to him. His name was Jim.
She told me they were married. I asked for how long….. 25 years, was her answer. And then she asked if I would take their photo together. I obliged.
From this day forward, whenever I would see her (or she would spot me), I would always offer to buy her tacos or food. She never turned me down. She was really thin and while rumors swirled that she had HIV, I don’t believe she did. Pat just didn’t get enough to eat. Sometimes, I would be on my way elsewhere and she would see me. I would always ask if she needed a few dollars for lunch. Invariably, she did. But also without fail, I would see her a bit later eating at one of the taco stands or at Kentucky Fried Buches.
She worked all days and hours on the streets in Zona. Clients were few and far between but at least one of them was quite fond of her and would buy her new boots and jackets and things from time to time.
One afternoon I had some time to spare and wanted to meet her famous cats. There were five of them at this point. (She spoke about her cats every time we saw each other.) We walked over to her room on Madero in Centro, stopping to chat for a second with an old friend of hers.
Jim was home when we arrived. The room was tiny. The door didn’t open all the way to the room as it was blocked by the bunk bed. This photo shows all of it except the bathroom, which is directly behind me, and a small television that is off to the right of me. Pat told me it cost 200p/day (approx $12USD) to stay there but they allowed her to have her cats.
Jim told me he worked from time to time picking up odd jobs here and there but it was hard to find work and he was grateful that Pat could do what she did.
They met when they were both living in El Cajon and working at the Boll Weevil. But they lost their jobs and found themselves homeless in San Diego so they decided to try living in Tijuana where they had been for the past 24 years.
Pat had epilepsy. Sometime during the summer of 2017, she suffered a grand mal seizure that morphed into a longer seizure. Jim decided he would take her to Tijuana General, where she later died. I hope all the kitties she’s had in her life are with her now in the afterlife.
I have not seen Jim since Pat passed away but I hear he’s still in Tijuana.
